Analysis of Marvellous Martin
Charles Harpur 1813 (Windsor) – 1868 (Australia)
Who sees him walk the street, can scarce forbear
To question thus his friend, What prig goes there?
So much hath Nature, as 'tis oft her plan,
Stamped inward trickery on the outward man!
And yet, with her great interdiction deep
Impressed thus on his being, see him creep
Into our Parliament, and dare to prate
About the god-like principles of State;
With this sole claim address him to the work,
That he has read that prince of sophists, Burke!
And though a dreary Plunkett's glad to praise
His talent, seeing that their feeble rays
Have just that kindred with his own pinched mind
Which (says the proverb ) makes us wond'rous kind.
No more could such a creature feel or think
Beyond Expediency's most beaten brink,
Or sum the onward pressure of our race,
Than I could heave a mountain from its base!
Nay, even the dogmas of his vaunted Burke
Work in him to no end, or backward work,
Or dwindle in his view, like heaven's wide cope
Seen through the wrong end of a telescope.
How then might such a 'thing', with all the gang
That yet like vermin about Wentworth hang,
Rear-ranked with hirelings,-how might he and these,
(Any-thing snobs and no-thing Nominees!)
Devise a Government intoned and twined
With all that's true and fetterless in mind
And free in body-one, in short, designed
Not for the pigmies of the passing hour,
But for Australia's future sons of Power?
No! they can spin but feudal cobwebs, soon
By Freedom to be blown into the moon,
Or back to Norfolk Island, whence, 'tis plain,
Their slimy embryos came in youthful Lottery's brain.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFDDGGHHEEII JJKKDDDAALLMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111101111 1101111111 1111011101 11010010101 011010101 0111110111 01101000111 0101110011 111111101 111111111 010101111 1101011101 1111011111 110101111 1111010111 0111101 11010101101 1111010111 1100111101 1011111101 11001111011 110111010 1111011101 1111001111 111111101 101101101 0101000101 11110101 0101010101 1101101010 11010101110 111111011 1101110101 1111010111 11010101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,523 |
Words | 279 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 22, 13 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 608 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 138 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:25 min read
- 67 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Marvellous Martin" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5156/marvellous-martin>.
Discuss this Charles Harpur poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In